Arroyo Monthly 2014 by Southland Publishing

FINE LIVING IN THE GREATER PASADENA AREA MARCH 2014

Cultivating Outdoor Art The Norton Simon’s sculpture garden turns 15

LOSE YOUR LAWN And take your yard design to the next level EAGLE ROCK STAR How it became the nation’s second-hottest ’hood OSCAR DAZZLE Polish your own red-carpet look

4 | ARROYO | 03.14

arroyo VOLUME 10 | NUMBER 3 | MARCH 2014

11 41

HOME AND LAND 11 LOSING YOUR LAWN Turf-free gardens offer design challenges — and rewards. —By Ilsa Setziol

PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Wynne Wilson, courtesy of Pasadena Heritage, Joe Atlas

29 THE ART OF THE GARDEN The Norton Simon celebrates Nancy Goslee Power’s winning design for its sculpture garden. —By Bettijane Levine

34 EAGLE ROCK STAR Once a hidden treasure, the charming L.A. community is named the country’s second “hottest” neighborhood for 2014. —By Tariq Kamal

DEPARTMENTS 9

FESTIVITIES Pasadena Showcase House of Design’s Empty House Party, L.A. Master Chorale’s “Golden on Grand” gala and more

ARROYO HOME SALES INDEX

BEAUTY How can real women shine on Oscar night? Neeko, Halle Berry’s go-to hairstylist in Pasadena, tells all.

KITCHEN CONFESSIONS Think the new law requiring food workers to wear plastic gloves keeps you safe? Think again.

THE LIST Rappelling off The Westin Pasadena for charity, LACO’s Stradivarius festival, L.A. Living: Modern to Classic Show comes to Glendale

ABOUT THE COVER: Jacques Lipchitz’s Figure, 1926-30, Art © The estate of Jacques Lipchitz, courtesy, Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo by Tim Street-Porter, © Norton Simon Art Foundation

03.14 | ARROYO | 7

EDITOR’S NOTE

PRAY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER ILSA SETZIOL TO HAVE GARDENING PROBLEMS. Not that Arroyo wishes our regular contributor anything but the best. It’s just that Setziol is generous enough to share the lessons she has learned over the years in her seemingly indefatigable quest to improve her San Gabriel garden. Ergo, her story on “Losing Your Lawn” (an especially good idea in drought-plagued Southern California) for this month’s Home and Land issue. “Many of the garden pieces I’ve written over the years touch on mistakes I’ve made, or realizations it took me too long to arrive at,” Setziol says. “I’ve been gardening with only small patches of lawn for more than a decade. The rest is a lovely assemblage of drought-tolerant plants. But in the last four years, I’ve been simplifying things — removing or not replacing plants, allowing for more open space. The temptation to fill every space with one of every plant I like still remains, but more often now I realize one good plant deserves at least another of its kind — and a little breathing room.” Bettijane Levine learned that breathing room also enhances landscaping around outdoor art in her story about Nancy Goslee Power’s acclaimed design for the Norton Simon’s sculpture garden, which turns 15 later this year. Check out Power’s other tips for creating your own outdoor gallery. And if you’ve put down roots in Eagle Rock, you can pat yourself on the back. Redfin.com, a real estate brokerage website, proclaimed the charming neighborhood the country’s second “hottest” among homebuyers. Find out why in Tariq Kamal’s piece on the latest real estate rock star. —Irene Lacher

EDITOR IN CHIEF Irene Lacher

PRODUCTION MANAGER Richard Garcia

arroyo

PRODUCTION DESIGNERS Rochelle Bassarear, Carmelita Reyes

SOUTHLAND PUBLISHING

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kent Bancroft ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Carla Cortez

COPY EDITOR John Seeley CONTRIBUTORS Leslie Bilderback, Samantha Bonar, Michael Cervin, Scarlet Cheng, Carole Dixon, Lynne Heffley, Noela Hueso, Tariq Kamal, Kathy Kelleher, Rebecca Kuzins, Bettijane Levine, Elizabeth McMillian, Brenda Rees, John Sollenberger, Nancy Spiller ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Dina Stegon ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Brenda Clarke, Joseluis Correa, Leslie Lamm ADVERTORIAL CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Joanna Dehn Beresford ADVERTISING DESIGNERS Richard Garcia, Rochelle Bassarear

FINE LIVING IN THE GREATER PASADENA AREA

V.P. OF FINANCE Michael Nagami V.P. OF OPERATIONS David Comden PRESIDENT Bruce Bolkin CONTACT US ADVERTISING dinas@pasadenaweekly.com EDITORIAL editor@arroyomonthly.com PHONE (626) 584-1500 FAX (626) 795-0149

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Andrea Baker

MAILING ADDRESS 50 S. De Lacey Ave., Ste. 200, Pasadena, CA 91105

PAYROLL Linda Lam

ArroyoMonthly.com

ACCOUNTING Alysia Chavez, Kacie Sturek OFFICE ASSISTANT Ann Weathersbee PUBLISHER Jon Guynn 8 | ARROYO | 03.14

FESTIVITIES Elaine Taylor and Christopher Plummer

Empty House Party Co-Chair Charlotte Varner, PSHA President Donna Gotch, 50th Showcase House of Design Benefit Chair Mary Ann Clayton, Empty House Party Co-Chair Vicki McCluggage

PHOTOS, Clockwise from top left: Peter Valli (Empty House Party); Jamie Pham (LA Master Chorale); Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging (A Word or Two); courtesy of Sue Wong (Sue Wong Party); Earl E. Gibson lll (Above The Fold);

Clayton with Mayor Bill and Claire Bogaard

Auction Co-Chair Marguerite Marsh, Annette Ermshar and Joyce Nores, Patron Co-Chair Carol Henry, Auction Co-Chair Sonia Randazzo, and 50th Anniversary Steering Committee Chair Marian Niles

LAMC member Abdiel Gonzalez, Master of Ceremonies Fritz Coleman and LAMC General Manager Andy Brown

More than 500 guests savored a hearty buffet and hints of what’s to come at the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts’ annual Empty House Party Jan. 24 at the 1915 English country estate that will be utterly transformed by 26 interior designers into the 50th Showcase House, which opens to the public on April 13…The Los Angeles Master Chorale toasted its 50th anniversary at a black-tie gala at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown L.A. on Jan. 25. “Golden on Grand,” co-chaired by Annette Ermshar and Joyce Nores, drew nearly 400 supporters and luminaries who raised more than $600,000 for the Jeff Chojnacki, Donna Gotch and Russ Diamond

Grammy-nominated group… Master actor Christopher Plummer celebrated opening night of A Word or Two, his acclaimed one-man show at the Ahman-

Charlayne Woodard and Des McAnuff

son Theatre, with his Tony-winning director, Des McAnuff, and other well-wishers at the Palm Restaurant in downtown L.A. on Jan. 22… Kaiser Permanente and government officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting hailing the Feb. 19 opening

Ed Begley, Jr.

of the managed-care consortium’s new Urgent Care Center in Pasadena… L.A. designer Sue Wong ushered in the Chinese New Year (of the horse) with drummers and dancers at a party at her historic home, The Cedars, on Jan. 13… The Pasadena Playhouse unveiled the world premiere of Bernard Weinraub’s Acting Board Chair David DiCristofaro, Steven Robman, Elizabeth Doran and Sheldon Epps

journalism drama, Above the Fold, starring Taraji P. Henson, on Feb. 5.

Sue Wong flanked by John and Natasha Sally

Bernard Weinraub, Arye Gross, Mark Hildreth, Kristy Johnson, Taraji P. Henson, Joe Massingill and Seamus Mulcahy

Ribbon cutting for Kaiser Permanente’s new urgent care facility

03.14 | ARROYO | 9

Losing Your Lawn TURF-FREE GARDENS OFFER DESIGN CHALLENGES — AND REWARDS. BY ILSA SETZIOL

AT LONG LAST, THE LAWN HAS BECOME PASSÉ IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND IT’S ABOUT TIME. LAWNS ARE PERPETUALLY THIRSTY AND CALIFORNIA IS IN THE GRIP OF A RECORD DROUGHT. MANY MUNICIPALITIES ARE PAYING RESIDENTS TO RIP OUT CONVENTIONAL GRASS

PHOTO: Wynne Wilson

AND REPLACE IT WITH DROUGHT-TOLERANT LANDSCAPING. (IN PASADENA, THE REBATE IS A DOLLAR PER SQUARE FOOT OF TURF, UP TO $2,500.) –continued on page 13

Carex pansa in a garden designed by Wynne Wilson of Terra Design replaces Tina and Mark Graf’s lawn.

03.14 ARROYO | 11

12 | ARROYO | 03.14

For Beth Gertmenian’s front garden, Laramee Haynes ripped out the lawn and added a brick patio and pathways that weave among native black sage, ceonothus, coffeeberry, galvezia and other drought-tolerant plants.

PHOTO: Ilsa Setziol

–continued from page 11

Still, even scoundrels have redeeming qualities and lawns have theirs: providing a soft, durable play space that’s easy to incorporate into a garden. “When you have grass, artistically it ends up being a fairly simple design,” says Laramee Haynes of Pasadena-based Haynes Landscape Design. A strong design becomes more vital in the absence of grass, he says, because the assemblage of plants replacing it can look “too busy.” Despite the challenges, losing one’s lawn presents opportunities. Many lawnliberated gardens in the San Gabriel Valley are exemplars.

Five years ago, the garden in front of Denise and Tim Morse’s elegant 1924 Italianate home near Caltech was an uninspired combination of grass and ivy. Today, the garden’s more formal, geometric design complements the Mediterranean house, as do its droughttolerant plants. Haynes installed low, variegated mock-orange hedges that skirt two ovals of decomposed granite (DG), one on each side of the path to the door. (The curvilinear shapes echo the architectural eyebrow above the entrance.) Creeping rosemary trails over the edges of the DG, softening the borderline. A stone bench flanking a dwarf orange tree is both a focal and vantage point. The result? A space that feels simultaneously enclosed and open, public and pri–continued on page 15 03.14 ARROYO | 13

For the Grafs’ front yard, Wilson installed another lawn substitute — dymondia.

PHOTO: Wynne Wilson

–continued from page 13

vate. “It’s a living space for us,” says Denise Morse. “It gives me enough privacy that I’m separate, but still part of what’s going on in the neighborhood.” To accomplish that, Haynes deployed just a handful of plant varieties, lending order to the design. “The old-fashioned advice from English gardeners is ‘repetition, repetition, repetition,’” he explains. “It becomes paramount to do that when you don’t have grass.” A relatively easy approach to replacing lawn is to swap it for other ground cover that’s drought-tolerant. Authors Carol Bornstein, David Fross and Bart O’Brien present several attractive options in their book, Reimagining the California Lawn (Cachuma Press). These range from native grasses and grass-like plants to carpets of resilient low-growing things like yarrow, as well as wildflower meadows, rock gardens or succulents. All are far more interesting than a monolithic lawn, although many won’t tolerate heavy foot traffic. One lawn substitute that will, according to Altadena-based designer Wynne Wilson of Terra Design, is grass-like sedges in the Carex family. Wilson recommends Carex pansa, native to the West Coast. It lends a graceful texture to the garden she designed for Tina and Mark Graf in southeast Pasadena. “It can tolerate all kinds of traffic,” she says. “It can be mowed [but] it also looks beautiful long.” In the Grafs’ front yard, she installed another lawn substitute — dymondia. The little yellow-flowered, daisy-like South African plant is drought-tolerant and endures light foot traffic. (A summer bloomer, most of the year it displays petite silver-green foliage.) There’s little point in merely exchanging lawn for another entirely flat surface, however. If you’re going to rethink your garden, why not opt for a more interesting design? In the Grafs’ front yard, the carpet of dymondia edges bluestone paths and weaves around beds of Corsican hellebore, Kashmir sage, yarrow, coyote mint and other low-water plants. For the backyard, the flat landscaping was jettisoned in favor of plants of varying heights and textures; they carve the area into compelling architectural spaces. “I look at it like a painting,” Wilson says of designing gardens, “with an experience of volume and space.” Having earned degrees in environmental design and fine art from Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design, Wilson likes to play with the “seduction” of “something you go into — tunneling and then it opens into volume.” Like many landscape professionals, she achieves coherence and drama by massing together plants of a single variety — in this case, the Carex, roses and ferns. Just off the Grafs’ back porch is a large semi-circular graveled area for entertaining. It’s surrounded by fields of Carex, edged with maroon-leaved redbud trees. Heading away from the house, a gravel path rounds a low fountain and leads out of this fairly

formal area to a more rustic rose-covered lathe house (a shade structure of wooden slats that let in light and air). The Grafs enjoy polka dancing here, under a wrought-iron chandelier. Exiting the lathe house, a tunnel-shaped arbor leads into the wildest part of the garden — a native-plant-filled woodland that envelops a mature oak. It’s a secluded spot for observing the many species of birds the new garden shelters. Paths are a key element in lawn-free gardens. “The paving becomes much more important,” says Haynes, a former mechanical engineer, “because it’s the open space now.” He advises against skimping here: “Wider, more generous pathways with plants creeping over the edges is a lovely look, you can enjoy the view; whereas a narrow steppingstone path forces you to look at your feet.” For Beth Gertmenian’s front garden near Caltech, just down the street from the Morses, Haynes ripped out the lawn and added a brick patio and pathways that weave among native black sage, ceonothus, coffeeberry, galvezia and other droughttolerant plants. “We’ve done a curved pathway that makes the space feel bigger and –continued on page 16

HOW TO KILL YOUR LAWN Your approach will depend on the type of turf you have: Cool Season Grasses: Fescue, marathon, bluegrass and blends that stay green in winter. These are easier to kill. • Smother with a thick layer of mulch, not plastic (which kills worms and benefi cial microorganisms). • Strip off the grass using a sod-cutting machine or shovel, flip it over so the root side is up and leave in place. The best time to remove it is summer, when the grass will dry out, preventing resprouting. Warm Season Grasses: Bermuda, St. Augustine, zoysia and others that are brownish in winter. These are harder to kill. • Do not rototill — the grass will just reestablish itself from root fragments. • Remove by hand-digging; make sure to get the roots. • If you have to resort to herbicides for grass that persists after removal, choose glyphosate-based herbicides such as Roundup or Rodeo. These are less toxic and break down fairly quickly. Apply herbicides in spring, summer or fall while the grass is growing. Source: Tree of Life Nursery, San Juan Capistrano; CaliforniaNativePlants.com

03.14 ARROYO | 15

Laramee Haynes at the Morse residence

more interesting,” says Haynes. The new garden is not only more aesthetically pleasing, it’s also more functional than the old lawn-dominated yard. “Too much water was being used,” says Gertmenian, “and rain was running down the gutter, running away [into the street].” Now the slightly tipped patio catches water from the roof and directs it into a rock-lined catch basin. Gertmenian’s grandsons like to drive their toy trucks through the garden, climb on the rocks and rearrange smaller stones to make little dams. In the backyard, Gertmenian and Haynes adopted an approach that designers recommend for people who aren’t ready to ditch their lawns entirely: make the flowerbeds bigger and fi ll them with less thirsty plants. “Once you take out the edges and corners,” he says, “that can be 20 percent less grass, and it will actually look better.” He also gave Gertmenian’s lawn a more appealing curvilinear contour. If you do decide to keep some lawn, better management will still save water. “I leave the grass taller,” says Wilson, adding that she lets the mowed clippings drop to the ground to mulch the lawn. Most lawns are overwatered, so experiment with less frequent, perhaps longer watering. Still, Wilson and Haynes say most of their clients these days want less lawn — and none report missing it when it’s gone. They fall in love with “the textural, layered effect of a real garden,” says Wilson. “The birds, bees and butterfl ies pretty much [seal] a forever relationship with this type of gardening.” |||| To find out if you qualify for a cash-for-grass rebate program, visit socalwatersmart.com or cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/turfremoval/ 16 | ARROYO | 03.14

PHOTO: Ilsa Setziol

–continued from page 15

03.14 ARROYO | 17

arroyo

™

SPONSORED BY

~HOME SALES INDEX~ HOME SALES

jan

2013

2014

+21.7% ALTADENA HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. ARCADIA HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. EAGLE ROCK HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. GLENDALE HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. LA CAÑADA HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. PASADENA HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. SAN MARINO HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. SIERRA MADRE HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. SOUTH PASADENA HOMES SOLD MEDIAN PRICE MEDIAN SQ. FT. TOTAL HOMES SOLD AVG PRICE/SQ. FT.

JAN ’13 34 $462,500 1340 JAN ’13 20 $674,000 1669 JAN ’13 10 $466,000 1356 JAN ’13 72 $474,500 1448 JAN ’13 10 $1,170,500 2211 JAN ’13 104 $482,000 1323 JAN ’13 9 $2,620,000 2852 JAN ’13 6 $542,000 1377 JAN ’13 13 $485,000 1372 JAN ’13 278 $405

HOMES SOLD

278 274

AVG. PRICE/SQ. FT.

RECENT HOME CLOSINGS IN THE ARROYO FOOTPRINT

HOMES SOLD

-1.44%

HOME SALES ABOVE $750,000

JAN ’14 30 $490,000 1206 JAN ’14 27 $938,000 1952 JAN ’14 14 $618,500 1507 JAN ’14 77 $561,000 1493 JAN ’14 19 $1,365,000 2466 JAN ’14 100 $537,500 1436 JAN ’14 6 $2,060,000 2357 JAN ’14 9 $987,000 1960 JAN ’14 15 $875,000 1668 JAN ’14 274 $493

ADDRESS ALTADENA

CLOSE DATE

860 La Vina Lane 1240 Sagemont Place 939 Beverly Way 939 Beverly Way 1911 Pepper Drive

01/13/14 01/17/14 01/24/14 01/24/14 01/14/14

$1,300,000 $825,000 $815,000 $815,000 $780,000

5 3 2 2 4

01/16/14 01/17/14 01/13/14 01/22/14 01/29/14 01/15/14 01/06/14 01/24/14 01/03/14 01/15/14 01/08/14 01/21/14 01/24/14 01/24/14 01/22/14 01/15/14 01/02/14 01/22/14 01/13/14 01/07/14

$6,398,000 $4,005,000 $2,928,000 $2,900,000 $2,729,000 $1,900,000 $1,780,000 $1,780,000 $1,720,000 $1,400,000 $1,300,000 $1,300,000 $938,000 $938,000 $899,000 $868,000 $850,000 $828,000 $820,000 $803,000

6 5 5 8 4 4 3 5 5 3 6 5 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3

01/06/14

$835,000

01/14/14 01/29/14 01/14/14 01/07/14 01/29/14 01/27/14 01/30/14 01/30/14 01/16/14 01/03/14 01/24/14 01/24/14 01/29/14 01/29/14 01/13/14 01/07/14 01/14/14 01/22/14 01/28/14 01/10/14 01/02/14

$1,650,000 $1,500,000 $1,315,000 $1,175,000 $1,175,000 $1,164,000 $1,140,000 $1,038,000 $950,000 $900,000 $890,000 $890,000 $882,000 $880,000 $880,000 $865,000 $860,000 $860,000 $769,000 $760,000 $750,000

5 8 4 5 4 5 3 7 4 4 4 4 6 3 6 3 3 3 3 3

SOURCE: CalREsource

PRICE BDRMS. SQ. FT.

YR. BUILT PREV. PRICE

PREV. SOLD

3886 1898 1352 1352 1789

1997 1979 1938 1938 1926

$1,250,000 $490,000 $445,000 $445,000 $655,000

05/06/2008 12/11/2002 03/25/2013 03/25/2013 07/29/2008

9074 5971 3264

2005 2000 1938

1828 3048 2738 3593 3463 2166

1951 1952 1952 1983 2004 1953

$775,000 $2,568,020 $2,058,000 $870,000 $820,000 $1,238,000

03/02/2000 05/05/2005 06/18/2012 08/13/1991 06/27/2012 07/11/2011

3204 1745 1745 2038 1354 1533 2114 1952 2144

2001 1956 1956 1973 1949 1940 2007 1976 2002

$94,500 $335,000 $700,000 $578,000 $573,000 $824,000 $824,000 $370,000 $267,270 $691,000

06/06/1979 02/12/2003 06/06/2003 06/25/2003 06/29/2001 08/01/2012 08/01/2012 11/22/1989 07/29/1994 04/01/2005

$656,000

02/15/2008

$97,000

10/31/1979

$557,000 $350,000 $660,000

04/18/1997 12/04/2013 04/22/1994

$1,225,000 $700,000 $725,000 $769,000 $946,000 $470,000 $437,000 $437,000 $378,000 $430,000 $337,500 $830,000 $300,000 $435,000 $815,000 $1,025,000 $420,000

02/14/2007 05/31/2000 08/16/2013 09/25/2009 10/02/2007 05/04/1990 12/13/1996 12/13/1996 06/04/1999 02/02/1995 03/29/1994 02/27/2008 06/10/1996 10/07/1999 03/02/2007 08/25/2005 06/21/2001

ARCADIA 325 Whispering Pines Drive 1421 Rodeo Road 1225 Ramona Road 1131 Rodeo Road 2226 Greenfield Avenue 640 Arbolada Drive 1921 Alta Oaks Drive 1025 South 6th Avenue 901 East Camino Real Avenue 164 Elkins Place 400 East Rodell Place 411 East Colorado Boulevard 400 Coyle Avenue 400 Coyle Avenue 1042 Loma Verde Drive 521 East Norman Avenue 238 East Haven Avenue 601 South 3rd Avenue #B 1031 Whispering Oaks Drive 33 Genoa Street #C

EAGLE ROCK 5260 Dahlia Drive

GLENDALE 1105 Hillcroft Road 1840 Deermont Road 1454 Valley View Road 3310 Buckingham Road 108 Canonwood Drive 2538 Flintridge Drive 1601 El Rito Avenue 3630 Emanuel Drive 1401 Columbia Drive 1651 Parway Drive 1338 Carmen Drive 1338 Carmen Drive 1481 East Mountain Street 734 Cumberland Road 3229 Fairesta Street 1006 Thornwood Street 1545 Ard Eevin Avenue 932 Calle Simpatico 1129 North Cedar Street 1356 Greenbriar Road 3360 East Chevy Chase Drive

3816

1926

4811 3427 3924 4370 2455

1990 2009 1980 1981 1929

2788 2870 2569 2569 0 2528 3340 2665 2038 2397 1573 2217 12121

1926 1963 1928 1928 1926 1963 1987 1936 1990 1927 1979

The Arroyo Home Sales Index is calculated from residential home sales in Pasadena and the surrounding communities of South Pasadena, San Marino, La Canada Flintridge, Eagle Rock, Glendale (including Montrose), Altadena, Sierra Madre and Arcadia. Individual home sales data provided by CalREsource. Arroyo Home Sales Index © Arroyo 2014. Complete home sales listings appear each week in Pasadena Weekly.

18 | ARROYO | 03.14

HOME SALES ABOVE $750,000 RECENT HOME CLOSINGS IN THE ARROYO FOOTPRINT ADDRESS

CLOSE DATE

SOURCE: CalREsource

PRICE BDRMS. SQ. FT.

YR. BUILT PREV. PRICE

PREV. SOLD

LA CAĂ&#x2018;ADA FLINTRIDGE 355 Flintridge Oaks Drive

01/27/14

$2,525,000

3855

2003

$2,401,000

06/29/2007

3752 Chevy Chase Drive

01/24/14

$1,975,000

3434

1951

$2,100,000

05/23/2006

3752 Chevy Chase Drive

01/24/14

$1,975,000

3434

1951

$2,100,000

05/23/2006

5101 Oakwood Avenue

01/08/14

$1,900,000

3174

1941

$657,000

07/29/1993

$1,875,000

11/27/2007

912 Regent Park Drive

01/30/14

$1,875,000

3655

1986

401 Woodfield Road

01/15/14

$1,660,000

2021

1952

607 Wendover Road

01/08/14

$1,500,000

4067

1965

$775,000

05/09/2013

4384 Bel Aire Drive

01/07/14

$1,465,000

2839

1945

$1,355,364

07/13/2006

5759 Briartree Drive

01/24/14

$1,365,000

2539

1966

5759 Briartree Drive

01/24/14

$1,365,000

2539

1966

234 Mariners View Street

01/10/14

$1,320,000

2451

1967

1730 Fairmount Avenue

01/24/14

$1,210,000

2466

1955

$505,000

08/29/1996

1730 Fairmount Avenue

01/24/14

$1,210,000

2466

1955

$505,000

08/29/1996

516 Paulette Place

01/13/14

$1,180,000

2002

1952

$999,000

10/17/2005

624 Knight Way

01/28/14

$1,065,000

1872

1954

4537 El Camino Corto

01/23/14

$800,000

1005

1908

3670 Lombardy Road

01/30/14

$2,588,000

3625

1951

2405 Oswego Street

01/09/14

$2,120,000

1734

1924

$2,000,000

10/21/2005

1690 La Vista Place

01/22/14

$1,800,000

2273

1927

$1,000,000

11/30/2006

322 South Grand Oaks Avenue

01/08/14

$1,600,000

1962

1950

$385,000

11/19/2002

515 South Orange Grove Blvd #100

01/10/14

$1,510,000

3094

1988

$1,100,000

05/06/2003

1115 South Oak Knoll Avenue

01/28/14

$1,490,000

$1,250,000

07/29/2004

3085 Clarmeya Lane

01/08/14

$1,260,000

1899

920 Granite Drive #112

01/10/14

$1,098,000

2070

2009

367 South Oak Avenue

01/03/14

$1,065,000

2694

1936

$730,000

12/08/2006

352 Malcolm Drive

01/09/14

$1,044,000

1882

1938

$490,000

07/19/2001

1093 Avoca Avenue

01/17/14

$940,000

1666

1908

$520,000

12/20/2012

PASADENA

1947

89 North Sierra Bonita Avenue

01/10/14

$898,000

2344

1923

$750,000

11/08/2005

340 South Orange Grove Boulevard

01/10/14

$895,000

1896

1974

$470,000

08/03/2000

$185,000

07/17/1985

1424 Chamberlain Road

01/08/14

$890,000

1597 La Loma Road

01/23/14

$875,000

2471

1947

985 Sierra Madre Villa Avenue

01/22/14

$865,000

2240

1956

833 North Hill Avenue

01/17/14

$844,000

1800

1919

$900,000

11/09/2006

1665 Brigden Road

01/10/14

$835,000

2204

2001

$860,000

12/15/2006

434 Wenham Road

01/14/14

$822,000

1614

1954

2006 Queensberry Road

01/28/14

$815,000

1548

1924

$620,000

03/12/2004

2330 Lambert Drive

01/23/14

$810,000

1805

1949

$330,000

08/25/1992

2330 Lambert Drive

01/23/14

$810,000

1805

1949

$330,000

08/25/1992

1248 Lida Street

01/28/14

$805,000

1470

1937

$737,000

07/23/2004

1445 Riviera Drive

01/09/14

$802,000

1802

1955

1972 Layton Street

01/22/14

$772,000

1648

1928

$714,000

06/13/2006

155 Cordova Street #102

01/07/14

$764,000

1470

2010

3042

1957

2646

1961

SAN MARINO 1342 Circle Drive

01/15/14

$3,500,000

1365 Woodstock Road

01/14/14

$2,900,000

2715 Ardmore Road

01/17/14

$2,150,000

2120 Urmston Place

01/15/14

$1,970,000

$1,250,010

11/04/1999

$1,450,010

03/28/2000

$665,000

06/02/2000

400 Winthrop Road

01/14/14

$1,500,000

2068

1960

1690 Hilliard Drive

01/14/14

$1,258,000

1819

1948

$430,000

03/22/1993

481 West Highland Avenue

01/09/14

$2,950,000

7809

1910

$2,700,000

11/23/2004

380 North Lima Street

01/17/14

$1,300,000

1960

1946

640 West Alegria Avenue

01/17/14

$1,250,000

3300

1924

$395,000

06/16/1995

11 East Orange Grove Avenue

01/14/14

$1,139,500

3009

1951

2000 Liliano Drive

01/07/14

$987,000

2606

1961

SIERRA MADRE

SOUTH PASADENA 308 Arroyo Drive

01/08/14

$1,960,000

3154

1926

$88,000

08/07/1974

1308 Mountain View Avenue

01/30/14

$1,698,000

3145

1981

$600,000

06/14/1995

2052

1964

$1,025,000

03/07/2007

404 Floral Park Terrace

01/07/14

$1,550,000

429 Garfield Avenue #B

01/27/14

$1,105,000

347 Alta Vista Avenue

01/02/14

$975,000

2256

1980

4945 Harriman Avenue

01/22/14

$940,000

2585

1975

2004 Primrose Avenue

01/23/14

$875,000

1558

1924

2004 Primrose Avenue

01/23/14

$875,000

1558

1924

1937 Hanscom Drive

01/03/14

$783,000

1560

2004

$700,000

11/23/2004

522 Garfield Avenue #A

01/03/14

$759,000

1858

1986

$775,000

09/05/2008

331 Hawthorne Street

01/15/14

$750,000

1775

1926

$700,000

10/01/2008

03.14 | ARROYO | 19

ARROYO

HOME & DESIGN SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

LOVE MY HOME PASADENA: Timeless Landscapes BY JOANNA DEHN BERESFORD

It is impossible for me to read contemporary mathematicians who, instead of saying, “Petya washed his hands”, write: “There is a t _1< 0 such that the image of t_1 under the natural mapping t_1 -> Petya(t_1) belongs to the set of dirty hands, and a t_2, t_1<=”” 0,=”” such=”” that=”” the=”” image=”” under=”” above=”” mapping=”” belongs=”” to=””

Arnol’d on reading mathematics

IN MAY OF 2011, SOME GUY NAMED RIIS SOREN PUBLISHED A PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE IN AN ACADEMIC JOURNAL CALLED FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE. THAT’S THE NAME OF THE PUBLICATION; THE TITLE OF THE ARTICLE: “DWELLING IN-BETWEEN WALLS: THE ARCHITECTURAL SURROUND”. THE MATHEMATICAL GIBBERISH ABOVE WELCOMES VISITORS TO SOREN’S WEBPAGE, WHICH I STUMBLED UPON WHILE TROLLING FOR INFORMATION ABOUT SOREN - IN CONJUNCTION WITH READING HIS ARTICLE, AND WRITING THIS ONE OF MY OWN. –continued on page 23

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Leyba home, also known as “Casa Mariposa”

complement=”” of=”” set=”” defined=”” in=”” preceding=”” sentence...”=”” p=””>

03.14 | ARROYO | 21

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LaMar home

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

–continued from page 20 Soren’s abstract includes the Author-Supplied Keywords: Architecture, Embodiment, Hermeneutics, Emotions (psychology), Urban life. In his abstract (and really, who can be bothered to read beyond an abstract in these obtuse academic rags?) Soren explains the purpose and scope of his study when he writes that “architecture in a very immediate sense can affect our behavior and feelings. In more mediated ways, architecture is also capable of influencing humans and putting their environment into perspective.” Soren then explains that his intention is to explore the influence of architecture through “a contemporary philosophy of technology.” Which is all very interesting in the context of this month’s focus on how and why San Gabriel Valley residents love their homes. Because none of our readers who responded to a request that they share their passion about a cherished home mentioned anything at all about technology. Instead, they wrote about landscapes, relationships, vision and continuity.

LANDSCAPE OF GARDENS AND TREES Michelle LaMar, for example is a registered nurse, and her husband is a general surgeon, so the tranquility of home is very important to them. Here’s how Michelle describes their residence in Sierra Madre: “We love our house so much we actually miss it when we vacation! We especially love our garden and have created several areas where we can sit and enjoy it. Troy is originally from Wisconsin and loves Japanese Maples because of their beauty in the spring when they leaf out, and in the fall, when they change color and lose their leaves. We have several different types of grasses and over 17 Japanese Maple specimens throughout the garden. “Our favorite spot is our front porch. We bought the house in 2002 (it was built in 1930), and at that time it had the original front stoop. We had a wrap-around porch built with a door that leads to the kitchen. This front porch has become our sanctuary where we sit and enjoy our landscape, garden and bird watching. Neighbors and passersby often see us sitting on our porch having breakfast, lunch, dinner or a glass of wine.” –continued on page 25

03.14 | ARROYO | 23

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LaMar home

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

–continued from page 23

LANDSCAPE OF HISTORY Darlene Leyba, on the other hand, has found beauty not only in the lush landscape and warm interior spaces of their 1904 Mission Revival home in Altadena, but in the rich history of the residence. The house and grounds were abandoned and overgrown when she and her family discovered it, but Darlene says that her initial glimpse of the place was “love at first sight.” Casa Mariposa, or the Butterfly House, as Darlene began to refer to it, is built on 1.25 acres of land and was one of the first homes in Altadena, constructed on Mariposa Street, known as Millionaires Row. Darlene soon developed a keen interest in the home’s history, particularly in the original owners, Clinton Churchill Clarke, and his wife, Margaret Riddick Clarke. “I imagined how Altadena would have been in the early 1900s,” writes Darlene. “The Clarkes had to come up to the house in horse and buggy. Horseshoes have been dug up while gardening, also iron spikes, silverware and apothecary jars.” Eventually, with the help of local organizations and genealogy websites Darlene was able to create a portrait of the Clarkes: “He was from Chicago, a graduate of Harvard, class of 1900. She was from San Francisco,” Darlene discovered. By 1905 they were living in Altadena, where Mr. Clarke “was instrumental in bringing many of the ‘firsts’” to the region, including the Altadena Country Club, The University Club, the Boy Scouts of America and the Boys and Girls Clubs. He was an early benefactor of the Pasadena Playhouse, where Mrs. Clarke was a featured actress. He was also “a huge advocate in the preservation of our national state parks. And he is responsible for development of The Pacific Crest Trail, which are hiking trails that start in Mexico and runs through California, Oregon, Washington on to Canada.” Darlene ends her reflection by praising the legacy of Clinton C. Clarke, and expressing her gratitude to him for building “this wonderful place I call home, for his vision to live with nature and appreciate and take care of our environment.” All of this without any mention of technology, believe it or not, regardless of how essential all those operating systems seem to have become in our lives and homes. And by the way, I should confess that I may have the wrong Soren in my references above. Those Scandinavians are hard to differentiate. I really don’t know –continued on page 26 03.14 | ARROYO | 25

Leyba home, also known as “Casa Mariposa”

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

–continued from page 25 anything about him, I certainly haven’t settled back on the front porch drinking wine or coffee with the guy. I just searched for stuff about architecture, behavior, relationships, psychology and found that article; and then I googled the dude and his images and I investigated the Riis Soren who seemed most likely to be the author of aforementioned article. Anyway, I don’t know if it matters. But, I would like to acknowledge the presence or influence of all Riis Sorens in this column. As well as the wonderful contributors – readers, writers and residents – to this piece. ||||

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03.14 | ARROYO | 27

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The Art of the Garden THE NORTON SIMON CELEBRATES NANCY GOSLEE POWER’S WINNING DESIGN FOR ITS SCULPTURE GARDEN, WHICH TURNS 15 THIS YEAR. BY BETTIJANE LEVINE

WHEN THE NORTON SIMON SCULPTURE GARDEN FIRST OPENED, CRITICS PRAISED THE BEAUTY OF ITS DESIGN AND THE GENIUS OF ITS DESIGNER, NANCY GOSLEE POWER. WITH WONDROUS INGENUITY, SHE HAD INTEGRATED SCULPTURES MADE BY SOME OF THE WORLD’S GREAT ARTISTS WITH NATURE’S OWN SPECTACULAR LIVING SCULPTURES — TREES, SHRUBS, GRASSES, PLANTS, VINES — CREATING A GARDEN HAVEN THAT SPEAKS OF THE SEASONS TO THE SOUL.

PHOTO: Tim Street-Porter, © Norton Simon Art Foundation

–continued on page 31

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PHOTO: Ramona Trent, © Norton Simon Art Foundation

–continued from page 29

Since then, thousands have visited, but most who tread the meandering paths to gaze at the massive Henry Moores and Aristide Maillols are unaware that the garden is a Southern California interpretation of Giverny, Claude Monet’s famed botanical bower on the outskirts of Paris. And it’s probable that most visitors nowadays have never heard the name Jennifer Jones, an Academy Award–winning actress who married exceedingly well — to industrialist Norton Simon — and traveled the world with him assembling one of the world’s finest private art collections, which found a home on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. After Simon’s death in 1993, his widow, who was the museum’s board chairwoman at the time, hired architect Frank Gehry to reconfigure the museum’s interiors and asked Power to redesign the sculpture garden. But the commission came with a caveat: “Nancy, darling, I want a garden just like Claude Monet’s Giverny,” cooed Mrs. Simon. The request seemed a bit bizarre, Power has said, since Paris and Pasadena have totally different climates, and Monet’s garden had no sculptures to contend with. What Power came up with to meet this odd demand has turned her into a rock star in the world of horticulture and landscape design, and a heroine to many who may not know her name but have found serenity and even solace in the now world-renowned Norton Simon garden. This fall, the museum will celebrate the 15-year anniversary of the garden’s renovation with special events to highlight its various delights. “We’ll have concerts, readings, drawing classes, walk-throughs, family events,” says Leslie Denk, the museum’s director of public affairs. Eminent photographer Tim Street-Porter has been photographing the garden for a year, chronicling its different aspects as the blooms change with the seasons. The museum will publish his book later this year, as part of the anniversary celebration. The 79,000-square-foot sculpture garden is, in essence, an outdoor room, with a multilevel “ceiling” of sheltering trees and sky. Surrounding a central freeform pond that’s alive with lilies, reeds and grasses, Power has arranged 180 different species into mounds, masses, clusters and groves of growing things, each positioned to bloom at different times and heights, each meant to highlight a specific season and complement specific great sculptures — by Moore, Maillol, Auguste Rodin, Jacques Lipchitz, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and more — which Power has “planted” in their own

separate spaces, as if they had risen organically on those spots. In an interview with Arroyo Monthly, Power explained that full-size cardboard maquettes of each massive sculpture were built to help her design the garden. “We moved them around from place to place, to see where each sculpture would look best” before deciding on final placement, she says. For the sculptures’ bases, she used massive pale granite rocks she discovered in an old Fresno quarry, abandoned since 1929. The same granite, used as garden benches and for a fountain at the edge of the pond, adds to the garden’s unity and serenity. Power’s choices of what to plant where have been heralded as transformative by peers in the world of garden design. Maillol’s 1938 nude female, titled L’Air, floats as if suspended on a cloud of lavender. The artist’s goddess-like figure completed the year before, La Montagne, is positioned so that her hand seems to be reaching for a pond lily. Each artwork seems somehow connected to the artistry of blooms nearby. The Norton Simon garden was the first public garden Power had ever designed, and she tackled it in her late fifties. Until then, she had worked her magic only in home gardens, winning accolades from a variety of Social Register clients, architects and artists. The museum assignment was a whole different ball game, she acknowledges, and one she’d waited for all her life. “Even as a little girl, I couldn’t stand the [world’s] inequality. I wanted everybody to have enough money to have nice houses and nice gardens, and enough food on the table,” she says. In grade school, she read biographies of famous people who had tried to make the world a better place. “In my teens, I started reading utopian novels. And later on, when I started doing private gardens, I did them in the hope that it would lead to doing public gardens… so that everyone could enjoy them, not just a special few.” The museum challenge was especially daunting because the original building and its garden had been built in the 1960s to house the former Pasadena Art Museum’s collection of modern and contemporary art. When Norton Simon took over in 1974, the modern structure and garden seemed to clash with his collection of European and Asian art, some dating back 2,000 years. Neither the building nor the garden was warm or welcoming, and both seemed at odds with Simon’s extraordinary collection of Impressionists, post-Impressionists and Old Masters. A concrete rectilinear pool took up much of the garden space, surrounded by large flat areas of grass. –continued on page 33 03.14 ARROYO | 31

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Power’s Tips for Designing Your Own Sculpture Garden Outdoor art can enhance any garden, especially if it’s positioned for best effect. A sculpture may be rare and extremely valuable, or simply one with particular meaning for you and your family. How to design your garden around it? Power advises that an overall garden plan should come first:

PHOTO: Ramona Trent, © Norton Simon Art Foundation

–continued from page 31

While Gehry’s commission was to reimagine the building’s interior to better harmonize with Norton’s artworks, Power dealt with the specific request to mimic Monet’s famous garden. She knew instantly that what grows at Giverny, in the countryside just outside Paris, is totally unsuitable for Southern California’s climate. “What grows there certainly would not grow here,” she says. So she decided to take “the essence of Giverny” and give it her own spin, using more appropriate plantings. The garden’s focus is the pond Power designed. She calls it her boldest move, because it meant removing the angular modern pool and replacing it with a Giverny-like free-form body of water. In her 2009 book, Power of Gardens (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), she writes that she “worried about the shape, as so many ponds do not look as if they belong where they are. They just look hokey, with… shorelines rimmed in river rocks of all the same size: no beach, no boggy plants, no mystery. I went to my large atlas and traced lakes from all over the world.” She eventually came up with the shape she wanted and proceeded to bring it alive with both Giverny and the Delaware native’s own childhood in mind. “I had been to Giverny many times,” she writes. “I had enjoyed the fullness, the overblown masses of color and the sheer abundance, and I loved the murky pond with water lilies. It touched down deep into my Tidewater memories of messing around in ponds, marshes and creeks. As a child I had the freedom to wander all over the place, as long as I was home in time for dinner. Water lilies and bald cypresses in the ponds have always been my favorites, so mysterious and mesmerizing. I could float in a canoe or lie on a dock and watch the life of mammals, reptiles, insects and plants around the water…” Soon after the sculpture garden’s new pond and plantings were fully installed, she writes, “a great white heron sailed onto the water… and his approval let me know that we had built a natural pond just for him.” The redesign brought Power international acclaim, prestigious awards and many new public and private commissions, including a master plan for the Los Angeles County Arboretum. Her talent is innate, unmarked by formal training. After a few years at finishing school in Italy, she spent a decade as an interior designer and magazine editor in New York, where she married British film producer Derek Power, with whom she moved to California. They have since divorced. Now 72, she has lived in Santa Monica, where she set up her

I think we all suffer from trying to grow too many different things. You fall in love with plants, and you want one of everything. Your garden loses its point of view. The best way to counter that is to try to give the garden some bone structure, something you can work against. Get some strong dark green background growing. That makes a great backdrop for flowers. Then, don’t do any planting smaller than at least five of the same thing. Don’t just buy one or two petunias. Buy eleven or as many as you have space for, and mass them together. Study the “bone structure” of Power’s Norton Simon garden before embarking on your own. You’ll note different plantings massed together to elegant effect. On where to place your sculpture and what to plant around it, Power advises: Check the view from your house. If there’s anything that distracts from the sculpture, screen it with plants. And plant your garden to give visual space around the sculpture. In the Norton Simon garden, you’ll see that each sculpture is surrounded by a wide area of lovely low plantings of various types. They provide visual space so that the sculpture — not the surrounding plantings — is what captures one’s attention. Power also advises that you “frame” your sculpture by designing areas of taller massed flowers, trees or shrubs just outside the area of visual space with its low plantings. The frame further defines the space occupied by the sculpture. When in doubt, make a few study trips to the Norton Simon garden for inspiration. —B.L.

design practice, for many years. She says she recently sold her office building, dismantled her staff and returned to designing solo. Her private client list remains private, although it’s public knowledge that she still works with many A-list architects and affluent homeowners. “I do a lot of work in Montecito these days,” she says, and she is “fully involved” with clients and commitments in L.A. and the Norton Simon garden, which she still oversees. Perhaps her favorite long-term project is one that’s not accessible to the viewing public. “It’s a vineyard at a private Bel Air house — the Moraga Vineyard,” she says. “The land is so beautiful, and I’ve worked with these clients for over 30 years.” The property was sold to Rupert Murdoch last August; she declines to comment on Mr. Murdoch’s horticultural tastes. One of Power’s biggest fans is eminent California historian Kevin Starr, who has said: “Nancy Goslee Power is to landscape what Frank Gehry is to architecture.” Power posts that quote on her firm’s website, justifiably proud. But to one recent garden visitor, musical allusions (Bach and Mozart) came more readily to mind. Even on a drizzly, winter day, with none of the riotously colored flowers in bloom, the garden has a haunting, dreamlike quality that embeds itself like music in the mind. |||| 03.14 ARROYO | 33

Left to right: Mark Komuro, Rhonda J. Wilson, Joann Edmond and David James own homes on a cul-de-sac that overlooks Eagle Rock Valley. Both couples have lived in the neighborhood since the 1980s and are proud to call Eagle Rock their home.

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PHOTO: Jeff Coatney

Eagle Rock

Star Once considered one of L.A.’s hidden treasures, Eagle Rock has gained national recognition for its charming homes, solid schools and small-town sensibilities. BY TARIQ KAMAL

THE SECRET IS OUT: EAGLE ROCK IS A HOT COMMODITY. IN JANUARY, THE NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY WAS NAMED AMERICA’S SECOND “HOTTEST” NEIGHBORHOOD FOR 2014 BY REDFIN.COM, A LEADING REAL ESTATE WEBSITE. THE RANKINGS ARE BASED ON INTEREST FROM HOMEBUYERS — SEARCHES FOR PROPERTIES IN EAGLE ROCK INCREASED BY 128 PERCENT IN 2013. THE NEWS COMES AS NO SURPRISE TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD’S 34,000-PLUS RESIDENTS, WHO TAKE PRIDE IN THEIR THRIVING COMMERCIAL CENTER, WELL-KEPT EARLY- AND MIDCENTURY HOMES, TREE-LINED STREETS AND EXCELLENT SCHOOLS. ALL THOSE ATTRIBUTES ASIDE, THE PRAISE BESTOWED ON EAGLE ROCK TENDS TO BEGIN and end with the same sentiment: “Eagle Rock has a great small-town feeling, even though we’re part of the second-biggest city in the United States,” says resident Bob Gotham, who moved there from West Hollywood 27 years ago. “The economically, ethnically and professionally diverse population makes the community richer.”

here is an amazingly diverse community that tends to get along and look out for each other,” says Tracy King, a Realtor who has lived in Eagle Rock since 1983 and sold properties there since 1989. “You’ll see an amazing mix of neighbors at the community meetings. Younger neighbors drive their older neighbors to the meetings.” King says that many of her clients are renters in nearby Silver Lake and Los Feliz who have heard that homes in Eagle Rock are more affordable. Last year, her Eagle Rock Gotham is president of The Eagle Rock Association (TERA) and steering comlistings ranged from $350,000 to $938,000. “If they can’t afford mittee chair for Take Back the Boulevard, an initiative designed to improve and maintain Colorado Boulevard, the neighborHottest Neighborhoods of 2014 Eagle Rock or want something edgier, they can go to Highland 1. Bernal Heights North Slope Park, where the average home sells for about $100,000 less.” hood’s commercial core and main thoroughfare. He says the (San Francisco) A relatively tight market helps push up Eagle Rock prices, groups have forged strong partnerships with residents, other 2. Eagle Rock (Los Angeles) says Realtor Ben Manibog, who grew up in Silver Lake and community organizations and City Councilmember José Huizar, 3. Morningside/Lenox Park moved to Eagle Rock in 1998. “We’ve had three houses in who represents District 14, which includes much of Northeast (Atlanta) Eagle Rock,” he says. “We didn’t want to move away. There are Los Angeles and downtown L.A. Huizar, whose field office is lo4. Upper Chevy Chase (Washington, D.C.) so many great little areas, the hills and a variety of Craftsman cated on Colorado Boulevard, agrees that Eagle Rock feels like a 5. Desert Shores (Las Vegas) homes and Tudors.” He says the number of available properties small town in a big city. “It’s an interesting combination,” he says. 6. Barrington Oaks rarely exceeds 30 and is typically closer to 20. That means that “You also have a very active community who are not only proud (Austin, Texas) most sellers receive multiple offers and some fi rst-time buyers are of where they live but are actively engaged in making sure Eagle 7. Phinney Ridge (Seattle) being priced out by real estate investors who buy, remodel and Rock continues to be a success story.” He describes TERA, Take 8. Concordia (Portland, Ore.) 9. City Park (Denver) resell homes. Back the Boulevard and the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council 10. Humboldt Park (Chicago) Shabnam Mogharabi has seen the effects of the trend fi rstas “great organizations” and says he relies on their counsel. CREDIT: Redfin Research Center hand. The Long Beach–based TV and web producer is in the Residents agree that the neighborhood tends to be unusually active in local politics. “What people don’t expect to find –continued on page 37 03.14 ARROYO | 35

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Eagle Rock Homes Sold

30 25 20

2012

2013 10 5

Jan ’14

December

November

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

March

February

0 January

$650k

Eagle Rock Median Home Prices

$600k

$550k 2012 $500k 2013 $450k

Jan ’14

December

November

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

March

$400k February

midst of a monthslong search for her first home, a process she describes as “slow.” She has looked in Highland Park, Glassell Park, Mount Washington and Atwater Village, but Eagle Rock remains her first choice. “I’m looking for something in the three-bedroom, $500,000 range, and there are options in Eagle Rock. You have to wait for something to become available.” Mogharabi is working with a Realtor and occasionally ventures out on her own. “I’ll pull up to an open house and see that the house next door is being remodeled. Someone will come running out of the house next door, walk right up to the car, ask if I’m looking and hand me their card. That has happened a couple of times.” Eagle Rock wasn’t always considered so desirable. Prices were considerably lower when Joann Edmond and her husband, David James, moved there in 1986. “When we moved, we were the youngest people on our street,” Edmond says. “Pretty much all the people on our street were retired. When they left, moved or passed away, younger people started buying the homes. That keeps the neighborhood vibrant.” When they bought their home, Edmond developed and managed curriculums for the extension program at Cal State L.A. Her husband, now a professor at USC’s film school, was teaching at Eagle Rock’s Occidental College and counts President Barack Obama among his former students. Three years after they moved in, another young couple, Rhonda J. Wilson and Mark Komuro, bought the house next door. The recently married Burbank residents had set out to find a “nice, small house with a view,” in Wilson’s words. “We looked at Mount Washington, we looked in Silver Lake, Alhambra and Adams Hill in Glendale. We got the most bang for our buck in Eagle Rock.” Wilson is a beauty blogger and Komuro owns The Yard Muay Thai Gym in nearby Lincoln Heights. Komuro grew up in East L.A. but didn’t know much about Eagle Rock before the couple started their search. “It seemed like a real nice area. Much nicer than East L.A.,” he says. “Price had a lot to do with it. It’s a more affordable neighborhood and it’s a quiet, safe area.” The community’s top concerns include safety, which has become a key factor in the restructuring of Colorado Boulevard, Eagle Rock’s link to Glendale on the west and Pasadena on the east. In January, the city installed the fi rst four-way flashing crosswalks in metro L.A., all at intersections on the Eagle Rock stretch of the boulevard. Huizar says the ultimate goal of the Colorado Boulevard plan is twofold: “By improving safety and slowing traffic down a little and adding our lighted crosswalks, as well as increasing pedestrian and bike access, we are helping our local businesses draw more customers while ensuring that Eagle Rock maintains its small-town charm,” he says. “That is very appealing to families who want to live in a community they don’t have to leave to shop, eat and socialize.” Indeed, the businesses along Colorado Boulevard appear to be thriving. The north-facing stretch includes eateries such as Swork Coffee, Dave’s Chillin’-nGrillin’ and Lemongrass Vietnamese Restaurant as well as a boutique gym and yoga studio, two small auto parts stores and a beauty supply shop. There’s a two-story mini-mall across the street, as well as a larger gym, but no structure seems out of place. And that’s only a fraction of the mushrooming amenities. Activist Gotham says the shopping and dining options have “exploded” over the past decade and helped to revitalize Eagle Rock’s business district. “There were a lot of empty storefronts and many businesses like mechanics and auto repair places. They aren’t the biggest draw if you’re trying to build a Main Street.” Gotham hopes that Eagle Rock Boulevard, which stretches south from Colorado, will undergo a similar transformation in the near future. Edmond says she enjoys patronizing the businesses on Colorado — especially Lemongrass — but worries some business owners could eventually be priced out. “When Old Town Pasadena started developing, it was full of little shops,” she says. “Now those places are all gone because they couldn’t afford the rent. The chains could.” When they do need to leave their almost self-sufficient neighborhood, Eagle Rock residents enjoy relatively quick and easy access to surrounding areas. King says that has helped to attract residents who work in downtown L.A. and Hollywood.

January

–continued from page 35

Source: Arroyo Home Sales IndexTM. © Southland Publishing 2014. Complete home sales listings appear every week in Pasadena Weekly.

“All the new construction seems to be a commute away and people just don’t want to drive that far. They look at Eagle Rock as a great compromise.” She adds that the neighborhood includes several highly rated elementary schools and charter schools, including Eagle Rock Elementary and the Renaissance Arts Academy. Eagle Rock High, the only combined junior/senior high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, participates in the prestigious International Baccalaureate program. And Occidental College, initially located in Boyle Heights, now occupies a 120-acre campus south of Colorado and east of Eagle Rock Boulevard. Such multi-faceted charms have attracted an equally multi-faceted populace. The U.S. Census Bureau describes the neighborhood as “highly diverse,” both for the city and the county. The dominant ethnic groups are Latino (40.3 percent), white (29.8 percent) and Asian (23.9 percent). In 2008, 30 percent of residents ages 25 and over had earned a four-year degree, an average ratio for Los Angeles; the median household income of $67,253 is high for the city but average for the county. Huizar says he is “encouraged, but not surprised” that an economically and culturally diverse neighborhood is so popular with homebuyers. “This is Los Angeles, after all. We are a diverse city. But it does speak to the common goals we all have, no matter our ethnicity or income bracket. We all want good schools and nice neighborhoods for our families — these are all part of the American Dream.” Considering Eagle Rock’s location, amenities and bustling thoroughfare, Gotham sees a bright future ahead for the neighborhood and its homeowners. “The property values are already growing faster than the rest of the city,” he says. “I think it has been a hidden treasure but, in the last year, Eagle Rock has been frequently mentioned in the media. There’s something in the community they find unique. With this latest statement from Redfi n, I think it’s hard to say we’re hidden any longer.”|||| 03.14 ARROYO | 37

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT—

Education OPEN HOUSE & ADMISSION DAYS

Crescenta Valley Adventist School The Crescenta Valley Seventh-Day Adventist School (CVAS) was established in 1924 with the intent of inspiring leaders though academic excellence in a Christian environment. We continue this pledge with the belief that true education develops the spiritual, mental, and physical powers of each student, ensuring they are holistically

Aa Bb Cc prepared for their future. Now enrolling - Kindgergarten is 50% off! Crescenta Valley Adventist School - 6245 Honolulu Avenue, La Crescenta 91214 (818) 249-1504 www.cvas.net Drucker School of Management The Drucker School of Management in Claremont offers a world-class graduate management education through our MBA, Executive MBA, Financial Engineering, and Arts Management degree programs. Our programs infuse Peter Drucker’s principle of management as a liberal art along with our core strengths in strategy and leadership. We offer individualized, fl exible course scheduling, an innovative curriculum focusing on values-based management, and the opportunity to learn from world-renowned faculty. To learn more, visit us at www.drucker.cgu.edu. Halstrom Academy Since 1985, Halstrom Academy has been offering students an alternative to the traditional classroom structure by providing quality, full-time and part-time one-toone education with fl exible scheduling and enrollment options, and by focusing on content mastery with a technology-supported curriculum. From aspiring professional athletes and artists to unique learners such as students with social distraction issues or ADHD, students fi nd Halstrom a place where they can reach their full potential in and out of the classroom. 5 N. Lake Ave., Suite 250, Pasadena CA 91101 (626) 500-0056 www.halstromacademy.org

38 | ARROYO | 03.14

BEAUTY

Award-worthy Hair Celebrity hairstylist Neeko, who gives Halle Berry her pixie panache, offers style tips for Oscar weekend. BY IRENE LACHER The Oscar red carpet, coming to a living room near you on Sunday, March 2, is the Super Bowl of fashion and style. Forget the women’smagazine cover models of yesterday — if you want to see an image of female perfection with global clout and Internet staying power, you

PHOTO: courtesy of Neeko

can’t beat the pre-show of the 86th Academy Awards. Of course, even fi lm stars don’t wake up looking like that — they have a squadron of top stylists and hair and makeup artists behind them. Their expertise is vital to currying a star’s image (or brand, in todayspeak). Take lovely Oscar-winner Halle Berry. What’s the fi rst thing that comes to mind? Her über-chic pixie cut, which magazines from InStyle to Glamour regularly tout as the ’do du jour, along with instructions on how to copy it? That comes as sweet irony to Joseph Abriol, better known simply as Neeko, the artistic director of Salon Sessions in Pasadena, who created the look for Berry more than 20 years ago, when both were up-and-coming artists in their respective fields. At the time, he says, AfricanAmerican actresses were wearing their hair long or in an Afro, while straight spiky coifs were sported by skater girls. Berry, who was wearing her hair in a heavy bob, was looking for a more flattering, distinctive cut to take her into the next stage of her career. Neeko, who went on to do hair for America’s Top Model, had been recommended by celebrity makeup artist Troy Jensen. “Her hair was almost there, but it wasn’t there,” says Neeko, recalling their fi rst meeting at Berry’s home in Beverly Hills. “She walked down her spiral staircase, and she was so beautiful that anything you do is going to be amazing. We went upstairs, and immediately clicked. She knew what she wanted, and I started cutting it as she was telling me what to do, and I was –continued on page 40 03.14 | ARROYO | 39

BEAUTY

Halle Berry turns heads in metallic Versace on the 2013 Oscar red carpet.

like, no, you have to do it this way. And we kind of battled it out and came out with this amazing haircut, which was really tailored, showed her cheekbones and her neck and had softness on the top. “It was a little daring for her time, because there weren’t that many short beautiful cuts. Everybody was like, wow. I wanted it to be about her, not about the hair. So I did just enough hair to frame an amazing picture, and since then it’s been her benchmark.” Indeed, Berry’s hair has transcended trends and helped shape her image as an international woman of style. Of course, real women, who aren’t spending thousands of dollars on their style, can also look special and glamorous while they’re throwing popcorn at the TV. Neeko, a former L.A. gang member who was introduced to hair by a youth counselor who also worked as a barber, recommends planning ahead for the weekend of parties. “Most women don’t have the patience, let alone the funds, to get their hair shampooed and restyled every single morning,” he says. “I suggest getting an amazing set — whether it be a wet set, hot roller set, curling iron set or amazing blow-dry — on the fi rst day parties start. Friday you get your blow-dry and go to the salon – boom. You get the texture set. Then you kind of want to work it so that your hair falls perfectly; when we shoot any kind of editorial, we’re banking on the second- or thirdday hair because it’s got the perfect oils in it, and all the curls have fallen out just enough. It’s super-natural. So for women at home, I would design my whole schedule based on that third day.” The second day, try a coif that’s half-up and half-down, he says. “Grab the hair above your ears and that separates [it from] the lower section. You take the lower section and put it to one side [over a shoulder]. Putting your hair over to one side formalizes your ’do. Then the [top section] you just kind of grab and put it in a bun that hangs that looks like it’s half-up, kind of goddess-looking.” On Oscar night, “you put it all up and the texture is already cool, so you’re talking two or three pins, with just enough falling. The texture is perfect because it’s just enough flyaway but slinky at the same time.” And a few of his Oscar weekend don’ts: This isn’t the time for purple hair or highcontrast ombre looks, Neeko says. Go for elegance, which means “super natural-looking.” That also goes for your cut. “Either it’s going to be soft and amazing or it’s got to be a statement. So bobs are amazing — the classic A-line bobs — but it’s got to be super-strong. You can’t bring it that hard. It’s got to be cut perfectly on you and you have to have the hair for it.” Finally, ditch the hairspray. “Nowadays the hot thing is dry sprays – all those dry shampoos, kind of powdery, give you volume,” Neeko says. “Those are the sprays that are more modern now. Nobody’s shellacking it down. It’s got to be ethereal.” |||| 40 | ARROYO | 03.14

PHOTO: courtesy of Neeko

–continued from page 39

KITCHEN CONFESSIONS

Big Glove Think the new law requiring food workers to wear plastic gloves keeps you safe? Think again. BY LESLIE BILDERBACK | PHOTOS BY JOE ATLAS

I can’t help but feel a small sense of superiority when I remember to bring my tote bags into the market. After years of warning my kids about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (that Texas-size island of plastic waste still growing in the North Pacific), religiously gathering plastic recyclables and shunning plastic water bottles in favor of reusable aluminum ones, I was gratified to see more cities institute plastic-bag bans. Which is why I was all the more dumbfounded when I heard of the new California law, implementing Assembly Bill 1252, that bans bare-handed contact with ready-to-eat food and requires cooks to wear plastic gloves. With one signature we are reversing much of the good that the plastic bag ban is doing. Mandatory cooking in gloves is a stupid idea, and one that I will now add to my collection of asinine paranoia, which already includes the War on Drugs and the Transportation Security Administration. Has there been a sudden rash of foodborne illness that I am unaware of? Or are we just getting prepared for the inevitable zombiepocalypse? The biggest noise thus far has come from bartenders, who are now forced to

Having taught and taken many food safety courses, I can tell you that there are many more causes of foodborne illness than bare hands. For instance: Cooks should never wear their dirty chef coats out of the kitchen, but they do.That thing is covered with food, including protein-based items now carted around town in the danger zone (an industry phrase that describes the temperatures between 41º

don gloves when adding your twist. Plastic gloves not only make it harder to wield

and 140º, where protein-loving bacteria can really party. Above that temperature,

sharp tools and slippery glasses, but they simply aren’t sexy, which is actually a

bacteria is killed, below that it is dormant.). When you see a cook with a food-smeared

legitimate concern for bartenders. (Lack of sex appeal can really hurt tips.) There is a point to be made about the look of a rubber glove. There should never be a piece of equipment in a restaurant kitchen that reminds you of a prostate exam. Never. Chefs are complaining too. Besides being a huge expense, the gloves

smock, stay back. Way back. The same is true for any clothing worn in a kitchen, but people who cook in T-shirts are harder to spot. Shoelaces are also a serious threat. Shoes worn in a kitchen are covered with food, grease, dirt and more food. Slip-ons get covered in food too, but you don’t have to tie them. This is one of the reasons chefs

do not allow you to feel the food. The sense of feel is a vital component

wear clogs. (Really, the only good reason.) If you tie your schmutzy

of jobs in which you work with your hands. Gloves slow down production

shoelaces, you’d better promise to wash your hands before you

and can diminish quality.

touch anything. This danger is discussed less, so, as you can imagine,

Sushi chefs are the most vulnerable because theirs is a Zen thing. Not only do they handle the raw fish, they become one with it. I have never been “at one” with the food I cook, although I definitely am what I eat.

it goes unenforced. Shoelaces — the silent killers. Unwashed fruit is another huge area of concern. Cooks often don’t bother to wash fruit, especially if it is going to be peeled anyway.

I can think of dozens of instances when a glove would inhibit my ability

Melons are a particular problem. But if there are bacteria on the fruit

to accurately determine food’s doneness, move quickly through tasks

skin (and there often are, especially when storage and workspace is

or decorate precisely. In some cases, as in working with dough, they render the job impossible. But unless there is some new kind of dangerous virus

shared with meats), it easily gets spread by contact. My favorite statistic, which I pull out during such discussions, is that more salmonella cases are caused by fruit than by raw eggs.

being spread by contact that we don’t know

Sneezing is evil. That’s why we say,“Bless you” – to

about, I can’t see how gloves make our food

deter the devil, who uses the sneeze to enter your

any safer. If a worker is not washing his hands

soul. Even if you turn your head, your sneeze

when he should, who’s to say he’s going to change his gloves when he should? And while it appears that a lack of handwashing is the thing these gloves are

is out there. Haven’t you seen those gross slow-motion films of sneezes that show how the “moisture” disperses into microscopic particles, which linger in the air? The only

supposed to compensate for, they are,

thing that can save us is a tissue. I swear,

perversely, likely to reduce the amount

a face mask would be better for public

of hand-washing being done, by pro-

health than stupid gloves. This leads me

viding a false sense of security—

to the code-one threat to public health

as contact with the goop is what

— letting kitchen workers work when

promotes frequent hand-washing.

they are sick. When you’re sick, you –continued on page 42 03.14 | ARROYO | 41

–continued from page 41 should definitely stay home — except if we really need you on the shift. Or you have to meet your rent. Or your kid needs shoes. There is almost never any paid sick leave in the restaurant business. And while there is plenty of public concern for the health of the customers, there is no public concern for the health and well-being of the workers. No glove law is going to change that. The law will be only “softly” enforced for the next six months, with no hard-core enforcement until January 2015. Doesn’t this fact alone tell you that it is not a serious problem? Wouldn’t a real threat be met with stronger action? On a personal note (because I hardly ever add personal notes), I have a horrendous allergy to plastic, which manifests itself first by itchy bumps, followed by swelling. When I have had to wear gloves in the past, my hands swelled up like catcher’s mitts. I can’t be the only one who suffers from this allergy. What will folks like me have to do to be able to work? Bring the state Assembly a doctor’s note? |||| Leslie Bilderback, a certified master baker, chef and author of Mug Cakes: 100 Speedy Microwave Treats to Satisfy your Sweet Tooth (St. Martin’s Press). She lives in South Pasadena and teaches her techniques online at culinarymasterclass.com.

Sushi at Home In solidarity with my sushi chef friends, I offer a challenge: Get yourself a pair of rubber gloves, and try to make this recipe. Yes, I know you are probably not sushitrained. No matter. It will taste good anyway, and it will prove a point. See how long you can stand it, then call Dr. Richard Pan, chair of the state Assembly’s Committee on Health, and complain. INGREDIENTS 1 cup sushi rice 1 cup water, plus extra for rinsing 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon kosher salt 5 or 6 pieces of nori sushi sheets 4 to 6 ounces sashimi-quality tuna (or salmon, crab, fake

crab or Spam; or leave out the fish and make it all veggies), cut into long, thin strips 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into long, thin strips 5 or 6 long chives 10 to 12 very thin julienned carrot sticks ½ ripe avocado, scooped out and cut into thin strips Wasabi paste, soy sauce and pickled ginger for condiments

METHOD 1. In a large bowl, cover the rice with cold water, swirl it around and then pour off the water; repeat 2 or 3 times. 2. Combine the cup of water with the rice in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over high heat. At the boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook 15 minutes. Remove it from the heat when the 15 minutes are up, and set aside, still covered, for 10 more minutes. 3. Combine vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat it in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds.Transfer the rice to a large bowl, add the hot vinegar mixture, folding in thoroughly until each grain is coated. Spread the rice out onto a flat tray to cool. Sushi chefs use a fan to speed this process. 4. Fill a small bowl with water and keep it nearby. Place a piece of nori on top of a Japanese bamboo sushi mat (or a sheet of plastic wrap or foil if you are in a pinch). Dip fingers into the water, then grab enough rice to cover three-quarters of the nori. Pat the rice flat, about ½ inch thick, all the way to the edges. Leave the quarter of the nori farthest away from you uncovered. 5. Place a line of tuna lengthwise on the rice-covered mat, about a half-inch from the edge closest to you. Add a strip of cucumber, a chive, carrot sticks and avocado. Slowly roll up the bamboo mat, close over the filling and press gently, making a little nori hill.Tighten it gently, and continue to roll, pressing lightly with both hands. Roll it off the mat and set aside with the seam facing down. Repeat with remaining ingredients. 6. Slice rolls in 6 to 8 pieces, 1 to 1½ inch thick. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and a small bowl of soy sauce.

42 | ARROYO | 03.14

THE LIST

A SELECTIVE PREVIEW OF UPCOMING EVENTS COMPILED BY JOHN SOLLENBERGER A Star Shines in Arcadia

Pasadena hotel in an

March 1 — “Belle

for Shatterproof, a

of Broadway” Susan

national anti-addic-

Egan, so named and

tion organization that

unusual fundraiser

helps children and

Tony-nominated for originating the role of Belle in Disney’s Broadway produc-

young adults. Those interested in taking

tion of The Lion King, sings in concert

the leap must raise $1,000 to participate.

at the Arcadia Performing Arts Center.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The

With other starring Broadway roles —

public is welcome to attend.

Sally Bowles in Cabaret and the titular

The Westin Hotel is located at 191 N. Los Ro-

Thoroughly Modern Millie — to her credit,

bles Ave., Pasadena. Contact Ann Herbst

Egan will sing works by George Gersh-

at (203) 849-2191 or aherbst@shatterproof.-

win, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen and more.

org. Visit shatterproof.org/pasadena-raa

Cherish the Ladies

The concert starts at 8 p.m. Ticket prices range from $39.50 to $59.50. The Arcadia Performing Arts Center is located at 180 Campus Dr., Arcadia. Call (626) 821-1781 or visit arcadiapaf.org.

for registration and information.

CALTECH CONCERTS SPAN THE GLOBE March 1 — The Ladysmith Black Mambazo a cappella choral group performs

Composer Tribute Lauds Lauridsen March 14 — The Los Angeles Master Chorale presents an 8 p.m. film tribute to composer Morten Lauridsen, a National

traditional South African music and dance at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $10 to $36.

Medal of Arts recipi-

March 1 and 2 — The

March 2 — The Coleman Chamber Music Assn. presents the Berlin Philhar-

ent who served as the

Pasadena Playhouse

monic Wind Quartet in a concert of works by Mozart, Haas, Ibert, Milhaud

group’s composer-in-

presents Gene Kelly:

and Francaix at 3:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 to $45.

residence from 1995

The Legacy, an eve-

March 7 — Cherish the Ladies blends traditional Irish music, song and step-

to 2001. The evening,

ning with the dance

dancing in an energetic show at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $10 to $29.

legend’s widow,

All events are held at Beckman Auditorium, Michigan Avenue south of Del Mar

in Glendale, includes a screening of the

Boulevard, on the Caltech campus. Call (626) 395-4652 or visit events.caltech.edu.

documentary Shining Night: A Portrait of

Dancer-Director Legend’s Legacy

Patricia Ward Kelly, offering an intimate

at the Alex Theatre

Composer Morten Lauridsen, featuring

portrait of the screen star through rare and familiar film clips, audio record-

younger.

tages from more than 175 producers in

interviews with the most frequently per-

ings, personal memorabilia and insights

The Sierra Madre Playhouse is located at

California’s top wine-producing regions

formed American choral composer, plus

drawn from her many hours interviewing

87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre.

at the Pasadena Convention Center.

clips of performances and commentaries

her husband. The curtain rises at 8 p.m.

Call (626) 355-4318 or visit sierramadre-

Guests will have a chance to meet with

by musical contemporaries. Also sched-

Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets

playhouse.org.

winery representatives and winemakers.

uled is a post-show conversation with the

For an additional fee, guests can pur-

film’s director, Michael Stillwater, LAMC

range from $15 to $70; $150 VIP tickets

L.A. Living at Glendale Civic

chase access to the iSip Lounge, where

Music Director Emeritus Paul Salamuno-

The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39

25 wineries will pour wines that retail for

vich, current Music Director Grant Gershon

S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Call (626)

March 8 and 9 — The

$75 or more from 3:30 to 6 p.m. The event

and Lauridsen himself. Tickets cost $15.

356-7529 or visit pasadenaplayhouse.org.

L.A. Living: Modern

runs from 1 to 6 p.m. for wine trade mem-

The Alex Theatre is located at 216 N.

to Classic Show and

bers and early admission ticketholders,

Brand Blvd., Glendale.

Sale comes to the

and 3:30 to 6 p.m. for general admission

March 16 — The Chorale performs an

include a reception with Patricia Kelly.

Drumbeat of War March 7 — The Sierra Madre Playhouse

Glendale Civic Auditorium with antiques

ticketholders. The cost for general admis-

all-Lauridsen concert, conducted by

presents the West Coast premiere of the

and art objects, representing midcen-

sion is $60 in advance, $70 at the door;

Gershon, celebrating the composer’s

Civil War musical Battledrum, based on

tury modern, industrial, American Indian

for general admission with iSip Lounge

blockbuster works, including “O Mag-

the book by Doug Cooney, with lyrics

and tribal arts, Americana, pop culture,

access, the cost is

num Mysterium” and “Lux Aeterna,” with

by Cooney and music by Lee Ahlin. The

period arts and crafts, fine art, signs and

$80; early general

Lauridsen on piano, at 7 p.m. at Walt

show centers on three young Union Army

advertising, Chicano art, circus sideshow

admission and iSip

Disney Concert Hall. Tickets cost $29.

drummer boys, thrown into the bloodiest

art and more. The event runs from 10 a.m.

access costs $100.

Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111

conflict ever on U.S.

to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Pasadena

S. Grand Ave., L.A. For both events, call

soil. Christian Lebano

Sunday. Admission costs $12.

Convention Center is

(213) 972-7282 or visit lamc.org.

directs. Battledrum

The Glendale Civic Auditorium is located at

located at 300 E. Green St., Pasadena.

opens with gala per-

1401 N. Verdugo Rd., Glendale. Call (626)

Call (415) 705-0646, email tasting@

A Twilight Song

formances at 7 p.m.

437-6275 or visit antiquesandobjects.com.

familywinemakers.org or visit familywine-

March 23 — Noel Coward’s A Song at

makers.org.

Twilight opens at 8 p.m. at the Pasadena

today and Saturday, followed by a Champagne reception,

Celebrating Wine

and continues through April 19. Tickets

March 9 — Family Winemakers of

Rappelling for a Cause

13. It focuses on an elderly, closeted

cost $25, $22 for seniors, $15 for youth

California hosts From Our Table to Yours,

March 12 — Some 50 individuals will

writer who reluctantly accepts a visit

ages 13 to 21 and $12 for children 12 and

a comprehensive wine-tasting of 750 vin-

rappel 12 stories down The Westin

Playhouse and continues through April

–continued on page 45 03.14 | ARROYO | 43

44 | ARROYO | 03.14

THE LIST

CHERRIES BLOSSOM AT DESCANSO Cherry Blossom Festival

March 22 and 23 — Descanso Gardens hosts its annual Cherry Blossom Festival, with numerous events both days: From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., flowering cherry trees will be available for sale; a cherry blossom walk-and-talk takes off at 11 a.m., noon, 2 and 3 p.m.; and Yami Yamauchi teaches the traditional art of origami (paper-folding) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Saturday, the band Minyo Station performs traditional Japanese music fused with Western pop from 1 to 3 p.m. Free with Descanso Gardens admission of $9, $6 for seniors and students and $4 for children 5 to 12; kids 4 and younger are admitted free. Descanso Gardens is located at 1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge. Call (818) 949-4200 or visit descansogardens.org. –continued from page 43

from his former mistress, leading to the

1930s, were created by Hollywood set

unveiling of old secrets, forbidden affec-

makers. Tickets cost $30 general ($25 for

tions and surprising confessions. One of

Friends of the Gamble House members).

Coward’s final stage

The Neighborhood Church is located at

works, the critically

301 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena.

acclaimed play was

Visit gamblehouse.org.

first produced in 1966, when homosexual-

Violins Star in Strad Fest L.A.

ity was still illegal in

Some aging but active classical music

England. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Tuesdays

“stars” — eight Stradivarius violins worth

through Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays

more than $25 million — take center

and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Tickets cost

stage at the Los Angeles Chamber

$38 to $72.

Orchestra’s (LACO) Strad Fest L.A.

The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39

throughout the city this month. The per-

S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Call (626)

formances feature classic Stradivarius

356-7529 or visit pasadenaplayhouse.org.

violins, among the world’s finest instruments, created by Antonio Stradivari

Focus on FairyTale Houses

from the late 1600s to the early 1700s.

March 25 — Writer-

March 27 — LACO’s Baroque Conversa-

photographer Doug-

tions series highlights Concertmaster Mar-

las Keister delivers a

garet Batjer and violinists Cho-Liang Lin,

Here are events in our area:

Sidney D. Gamble Lecture on “Storybook

Philippe Quint and Chee-Yun performing

Style: Whimsy in L.A.” at 7 p.m., exploring

works by Telemann, and Principal Oboe

“fairy tale” houses in Burbank, Hancock

Allan Vogel perform-

Park and Los Feliz at the Neighborhood

ing Bach cantatas

Church. Keister outlines the history of

with soprano Elissa

these half-timbered, turreted, pinnacled

Johnston, bass Steve

and portcullised houses that combine

Pence and other

theatrical flourishes with fine craftsman-

LACO virtuosos. The

ship and large helpings of humor.

concert begins at 7 p.m. at Zipper

Through stories and images of some of

Concert Hall. Tickets start at $65.

the quaint, European-style homes, he

Zipper Concert Hall is located at the

explains how these structures, built

Colburn School of Performing Arts, 200 S.

during the first two decades of the 20th

Grand Ave., L.A.

century and nearly forgotten by the late

–continued on page 46 03.14 | ARROYO | 45

THE LIST

PASADENA’S HERITAGE OF HOMES ON DISPLAY

1927 Beach House

March 30 — Pasadena Heritage presents its Spring Home Tour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., opening the doors to four of Pasadena’s well-preserved architectural treasures designed by distinguished architects — the 1887 Bissell House, the 1902 Silver Queen House, the romantic 1927 Beach House and the 1914 Wrigley family home, now the Tournament of Roses headquarters. Tickets cost $40 ($35 for members) in advance, $45 ($40 for members) the day of the tour. Locations are provided with ticket purchase. Tickets can be purchased at the will-call location until 1 p.m. Call (626) 441-6333, ext. 18, or visit pasadenaheritage.org.

–continued from page 45

March 29 — “Stradosphere,” a Strad-

Proceeds benefit

studded gala fundraiser, features perfor-

CSC Pasadena’s free

mances of works by Vivaldi, Locatelli and

services to cancer pa-

Piazzolla by world-renowned violinists

tients and their fami-

playing all eight instruments in concert

lies, including support groups, educational

with orchestra artists. The California Club event, which starts at 5:30 p.m., also in-

workshops and mind-body programs.

cludes dinner and auctions. Ticket prices

Noor is located in the Paseo Colorado,

start at $750.

280 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Call

The California Club is located at 538 S.

(626) 796-1083 or visit cscpasadena.org.

Flower St., L.A. Call (213) 622-7001 or visit laco.org.

Art at the Autry March 29 — The California Art Club opens the 103rd annual Gold Medal

Beethoven, Bruch and More from Pasadena Symphony

Juried Exhibition at the Autry National

March 29 — Andrew Grams conducts

Center of the American West with a gala

the Pasadena Symphony in perfor-

reception from 6 to 9 p.m. The annual

mances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5,

display of more than 200 rarely seen

Bolcom’s “Commedia for (Almost) 18th

contemporary and traditional fine art

Century Orchestra” and Bruch’s Violin

paintings and sculptures is juried by mu-

Concerto No. 1 at the Ambassador

seum scholars and nationally renowned

Auditorium at 2 and 8 p.m. Ticket prices

artists. The works continue the legacy

start at $35.

of early California Impressionist painters

The Ambassador Auditorium is located

who founded the club in 1909 by docu-

at 131 S. St. John Ave., Pasadena. Call

menting the evolving

(626) 793-7172 or visit pasadenasympho-

world around them,

ny-pops.org.

addressing issues from environmental conservation to

A Wild West Gala Helps Cancer Support

46 | ARROYO | 03.14

urbanization. The

March 29 — The Cancer Support Com-

exhibition continues through April 20.

munity Pasadena hosts its 22nd annual

Tickets cost $75 in advance, $100 at the

Angel Gala fundraiser, “Wild, Wild West,”

door, and include a copy of the four-

at Noor in Pasadena, featuring a recep-

color exhibition catalog.

tion, dinner, live entertainment and auc-

The Autry National Center is located at

tions, starting at 5:30 p.m. Angel Award

4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park.

Honorees are Wells Fargo and Denise

Call (626) 583-9009 or visit californiaart-

and Robert Zeilstra. Tickets cost $250.

club.org. ||||

03.14 | ARROYO | 47

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